Rise of the Ultra Fury (Universe in Flames Book 5)

by Christian Kallias

  UNIVERSE IN FLAMES

  VOLUME V

  Rise of the Ultra Fury

  By Christian Kallias

  Copyright © 2016 by Christian Kallias

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2016

  Cover artwork by Christian Kallias (StarFuries pair by Adam Burn)

  Christian Kallias

  christian@kallias.com

  www.christiankallias.com

  www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

  www.twitter.com/kalliasx

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  CHAPTER IV

  CHAPTER V

  CHAPTER VI

  CHAPTER VII

  CHAPTER VIII

  CHAPTER IX

  CHAPTER X

  CHAPTER XI

  CHAPTER XII

  CHAPTER XIII

  CHAPTER XIV

  CHAPTER XV

  CHAPTER XVI

  CHAPTER XVII

  CHAPTER XVIII

  CHAPTER XIX

  CHAPTER XX

  CHAPTER XXI

  CHAPTER XXII

  CHAPTER XXIII

  CHAPTER XXIV

  A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR

  KEEP IN TOUCH

  C H A P T E R

  I

  Sarah lay on the floor, her eyes filled with tears.

  Chase, please don't die!

  That was when she felt a strong pain radiating from her belly, forcing her to close her eyes. She assumed a fetal position to try to find relief.

  Then she heard him in her thoughts.

  I'm so sorry, Sarah, I . . . I failed you. I failed all of you.

  It was Chase's voice and she could feel the depth of regret behind his tone.

  Chase, please don't die. We need . . . I need you!

  There was no answer.

  Chase?

  The pain in her belly diminished and she opened her eyes. She was no longer on board the Hope. Neither was she lying on the floor. She stood tall on the surface of an alien planet. She stood near a cyan ocean, the purple sky reflected in its surface. Above the horizon three moons dominated the sky, which was filled with a magnificent, red-orange aurora borealis. The place was breathtaking and had a calming effect.

  “Chase? Please answer me.”

  “He can’t anymore,” said a familiar voice behind her.

  She turned to see a tall, lean man with long, crimson hair.

  “Hello, Mom,” said Chris.

  “Chris, what’s happening to Chase?”

  “He’s dying.”

  “There has to be something we can do to save him.”

  “There is. That’s why I brought you here.”

  Sarah’s heart felt a little lighter, but it didn’t last long.

  “However,” continued Chris, “there is a price to pay.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I can save Dad now if I give him all of my life energy. It should be enough to save him.”

  “Why do I feel a but coming?”

  “I’m too weak myself, Mom. I already sent the lion’s share of my life energy to help him in his fight with General Arkoolis. If I do this . . .”

  He let the words hang.

  Sarah shook her head. “You’ll die?”

  Chris’ expression hardened as he nodded.

  Sarah felt trapped in her own mind. These weren’t options she was willing to consider. She couldn’t lose Chase, but at the same time she couldn’t lose her unborn son. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Her mind refused to go down either path. Then it hit her. That was how Chase had probably felt when he had to decide whether to shoot the starfighter with her clone on board, thinking it was her and Chris, or let Argos get his hands on possibly war-winning technology. Neither option was acceptable but he chose nonetheless. Sarah didn’t know if she had the strength to do the same.

  “I can’t decide this. There has to be another way.” She looked down, too ashamed to look at Chris.

  “I understand, Mom. I could make that decision for you if you like.”

  She raised her eyes and gazed at him. He looked peaceful enough under the circumstances, but that told her what his decision would be.

  “I refuse to let you sacrifice yourself. You may be the key to everything.”

  Chris winced. “We don’t know that.”

  “Look, I don’t want to lose Chase, but I can’t lose you either. You’re not even born!”

  “What if we knew if my sacrifice would bring the defeat of the Furies?”

  Sarah raised an eyebrow. “How?”

  “It’s clear that one of my powers, at least in your womb, is precognition. I see the future before it happens, so perhaps there’s a way to amp up that ability.”

  “Is that even possible? You just said you’re running out of energy. How do you propose to amplify your ability?”

  “That’s where it becomes dangerous, and risky for you and your own powers.”

  “My what now? I don’t have powers, Chris.”

  “Not yet, but bearing a Fury child you’ll most likely develop some in the future. My DNA has leaked into yours, which is normal in most hybrid pregnancies. I suspect the leak has been even bigger than usual because of the first torture session we had to endure at the hands of Argos. I can sense a lot of Fury DNA surrounding me. It must be from you, Mom.”

  Sarah didn’t know what to say. She knew from the doctors that she would probably acquire a little Fury DNA, but she had never stopped to think she could actually end up wielding any kind of powers like Chase or Argos. The thought frightened her more than anything. She knew how tormented Chase had been since he had come to grips with his powers and the weight of responsibility that came with them.

  “Mom, you are two different people. You having powers is actually a good thing. In fact, I think it could solidify your relationship with Chase.”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “I’m in you, remember? I feel everything you feel.”

  “Right . . .”

  “Look, Mom, I wish we could debate this, but we need to make a decision. Sooner rather than later.”

  “So you can use my own—what do we call them? Powers? —to amplify your own and see further into the future?”

  “That’s the theory. I might succeed and I might fail.”

  “In which case we’d be back to square one.”

  “Not quite.”

  “Why not?”

  “If I attempt this, there’s a good chance I’ll consume the life energy in these newly born, still developing Fury cells of yours. I might strip you of your future powers just by attempting it.”

  “I never intended to have powers, Chris, so I don’t care if I lose them.”

  “Are you absolutely sure?”

  Sarah really didn’t care about powers. In fact, their mere mention raised her stress levels. Her life was already complicated enough. But she also knew that every action had consequences. In fact, she was getting a better understanding of what Chase had endured up until now, only to lie dying on the surface of Droxia. Still, what if her powers were important, whether she liked it or not? She hated this. None of the paths she was presented with offered a clear advantage. But in a situation like this, she decided to go with the lesser of all evils.

  “I don’t want to lose Chase, and I don’t want to lose you to save
him. Let’s see what we can learn from the future. Use whatever power you think I have and let’s see what happens.”

  “Very well, Mom. This might get uncomfortable. These Fury cells aren’t yet fully developed. When I access them and merge my own life force with them, they will probably react.”

  “Do what you have to do, Chris.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes. Soon his face was distorted with pain and he clenched his teeth.

  Sarah wanted to ask if he was okay but she knew better than to interrupt his focus and intense effort.

  Jesus, this sure isn’t what I had in mind for my life.

  Soon the planet they stood upon started to disintegrate around them. The horizon faded into nothingness and, in a matter of seconds, all that was left was a patch of blue sand upon which they stood, floating in space. It was a vision, but Sarah’s brain still had a hard time dealing with the fact that if she were to take five steps in any direction, she would step into the void of space. The laws of physics clearly didn’t apply here.

  Then two crackling balls of energy formed between them. Bright white lightning bolts shot from their centers and the energy morphed into oval-shaped portals. A wavy field of energy radiated a blue-purple light from each of the portals.

  “What’s happening, Chris? What do I do now?”

  “These are doors for your mind. You can visit them both. I’ll do my best to amplify my abilities to their maximum so you can gain as much information from these timelines as you can.”

  “Timelines? I’ll need a little more explanation.”

  “There’s no time, Mom. You need to trust me now. The left portal will show you glimpses of the future in which I sacrifice my life now to save Dad. The right one will show you what happens if I don’t.”

  “Simple enough.”

  “Not quite. I have no way of controlling what you will see. It might be relevant or it might not. In any case, you must hurry. The sooner we get this over with, the better the chance that I don’t strip you entirely of your own Fury powers.”

  “Alright then. Left portal first.”

  Sarah walked inside the glowing portal and the moment she was through she felt as if the entire universe had swallowed her. She didn’t feel her body anymore, and that was the strangest sensation. Then flashes burst into her mind, like one big, 360-degree holographic projection.

  A fleet of ominous dark ships approached Earth and engaged in a terrible battle. Alliance forces were helpless to defend the planet. They fought with courage and desperation, but the enemy was too strong. Then the image changed and she stood on board an Alliance ship in the middle of the battle. The ship was exploding. An intense dread permeated her entire being. She died in this timeline. While she had no body in this place, she felt the mental equivalent of a shiver, the strongest she had ever felt.

  Another set of images flashed before her eyes. Inanimate bodies. The dead bodies of all her friends. Daniel, Keera, Ryonna, Ronan, Tar’Lock. They all lay on the ground in different places, but they all ended up dead. Her consciousness was overwhelmed with grief, pain and sadness.

  The image changed and she stood in a large, dark room where two figures stood. At first they were only shadows but soon she recognized one of them.

  Chase!

  He stood in a fighting stance, covered in blood, a look of total hate in his eyes. He was facing another Fury, the tallest, most imposing man she had ever seen. He was scarred and covered in blood. Chase spoke. “Arakan, you have taken everything I hold dear in this life. You’ve killed billions and brought nothing but pain and despair into this universe. But now your time has come.”

  The Fury was panting heavily, clearly exhausted from their fight. He answered, “You have lost. Your planet Earth is no more. You’re all that’s left of the opposition. Look at you. You’re beaten as well. It’s time for you to rejoin your friends.”

  “I don’t think so,” answered Chase, with more hatred in his voice than Sarah had ever heard. His eyes glowed orange and his hair shot upwards as his aura intensified.

  Chase unleashed a terrible, deafening growl and everything around them started to shake. Giant lightning bolts shot from his orange aura. Then, it merged into a dragon that danced all around him for a few seconds. The head of the dragon opened its mouth and Chase’s eyes flashed with a blinding light.

  He changed posture, and the dragon intensified its dance around Chase’s body. “Now you die. This is for everyone you took from me.”

  Chase unleashed the dragon towards Arakan who tried stopping the incoming attack with both hands. The dragon opened its mouth and roared as it consumed the Fury. It went through the Fury and consumed his entire being on a molecular level. Arakan’s body disintegrated as if it was made of sand. He was disintegrated from the inside out, and by the time the fiery dragon passed through him, there was nothing left.

  Sarah saw Chase fall on his knees, tears flowing from his eyes. His aura receded and his hair fell back into place. He looked beaten in both body and spirit.

  Then Sarah had quick flashes of random places in the universe. The Fury were no more and the different races who had survived the terrible war were reconstructing their worlds, one world, one city at a time.

  Then Sarah felt syphoned away from the scene by a powerful, invisible force and soon she was back in front of her son. The left portal faded out of existence.

  “Mom, hurry up. I’m using too much of your life force to keep this up. Check the second portal now.”

  She didn’t lose time answering and simply stepped into the second portal to be transformed into a bodiless being, her consciousness simply a witness of scenes that were presented to her.

  The first thing she saw was a similar battle happening on Earth. There were new types of ships fighting alongside the Alliance besides Earth, Alliance, Droxian and Obsidian. The battle raged on until the main Fury ship, bigger than the rest, powered up a weapon that made its spikes glow red. Each tip sent energy converging towards a point in front of the ship. The energy kept growing into a massive plasma fireball.

  The ship was about to destroy Earth. It fired towards the planet and impacted with the planet’s shields. It drained their power quickly and they flickered as they destabilized. Every ship in the Alliance was firing towards that Fury destroyer but the monstrosity’s shields held strong. The shield around Earth receded and soon only a small, circular patch of shielding held the plasma wave of energy back. Before it blinked out of existence, something happened.

  An Alliance vessel and a few Zarlack destroyers micro-jumped in front of the Fury ship and the plasma beam stopped, but the resulting explosion claimed many lives.

  Then the scene changed. She was now on Earth, in a cemetery. Chase gave Commodore Saroudis’ eulogy with watery eyes. Everyone she knew was attending.

  The scene flashed out of existence and she was back in space again. It took a while to get her bearings, and then she saw four ships coming her way. They were starfighter-sized but the design was unknown to her. Each had a different colored aura around it. Orange, green, yellow and blue. Four successive images flashed into her mind. She saw their pilots.

  Chase, Chris, herself and Argos.

  What was Argos doing with them?

  The images faded and she saw the same room she had seen earlier through the first portal: where Chase was fighting Arakan. It looked like two gods waging a terrible war. The more they fought the more the planet cracked, as did the giant room around them. They fought for hours at speeds too fast for human eyes to follow. At one point Arakan took the advantage. He unleashed a series of powerful attacks towards Chase and brought him down. He lay on the floor, paralyzed, his blood spilling onto the ground. Arakan approached him and put his feet on Chase’s torso, preparing his final blow.

  Even though Sarah knew this was a vision, she tried shouting “no” with all her might, but nothing happened.

  In the large, now mostly destroyed room, footsteps could be heard in the distance.

&nb
sp; Arakan looked towards the sound and Chase smiled.

  Sarah was brought back into her original vision.

  Chris was panting and he fell to his knees.

  “Chris! Are you alright?”

  “I’m . . . I’m fine . . . Just give me a moment. What have you seen?”

  “If you sacrifice yourself we all die but Chase.”

  “And the Furies?”

  “They are defeated, but the price . . . Earth is destroyed. Chase ends up alone.”

  “Yes, but he succeeds!”

  “I felt that he wished he hadn’t . . . I don’t want this future to happen.”

  “What about the other one?”

  “Well, Earth seems to survive, we lose Saroudis, perhaps more people . . . Argos seems to fight with us. Chase is alive and fights the head of the Furies. It seems like he’s losing but then someone approaches and the last thing I saw was him smiling. There was so much confidence in this smile, I think whoever walks towards him helps him defeat the Furies.”

  “But you have no confirmation?”

  “No . . . It’s just a general feeling.”

  “Then shouldn’t I sacrifice myself to make sure the Furies are dealt with?”

  “No. I’ve seen enough to tell you that I don’t want you to do it. The price is simply too high. I trust that we will defeat them, and I know that Chase will survive even without your intervention.”

  “Mom, you need to understand that what you saw might not happen in the order you have seen. And you’ve only seen little flashes of the future. Earth might still have been destroyed. Many of your friends might still die. Just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen in that timeline as well.”

  “I understand. Still, I feel strongly about which future I’d rather choose.”

  “Very well. You need to wake up and rest now. I need to get my strength back as well.”

  “About—”

  “Your power? I don’t know. I consumed most of your own Fury cells to show you these two futures. I have no idea if you’ll ever develop powers or not.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Thank you, son.”